Reed Supermarket

Because of this rapid growth several challenges can present themselves. A primary challenge that can present itself is the lost of the boutique feel because of the hundreds of locations. Even though each boutique is different and personalized, opening too many locations may cause the retailer to lose its niche in the market. Another challenge is the many changes the company has gone through in upper level management. Because of the changes investors have been discouraged, as mentioned before, and shares were down 16% after the changes.

If Reed continues to focus on building its quality image, then it should not be as concerned about these low-priced retailers.

The company was recently presented an opportunity by its largest retail customer to significantly increase its share in their private label manufacturing. The prospect of growth was risky, since it

The industry we have chosen is the department store-retail industry. Within this industry, we have chosen the department stores of JCPenney and Macy’s. We find this industry, as well as these two companies, interesting from a strategic perspective. JCPenney has recently undergone a massive strategic restructuring in regards to its pricing, brand offerings, and store layout, pushing it away from the typical department store strategy of discounts and coupons. Its new strategy has become much closer to Wal-Mart’s strategy of every day low prices. Macy’s, on the other hand, has restructured with a push from the economic

The retail industry is saturated with substitutes, in part to low entry barriers. Online shopping and small boutiques stocking similar lines, brand names and designs provide David Jones potential customers with many substitutes. It is the David Jones experience that cannot be substituted; shopping in a large, upmarket department store. For the sector, substitutes are low.

Helen’s is an upmarket fashion boutique store in Sydney’s east. Falling sales have been reflected by surveys that reveal consumers view the business as outdated and no longer relevant to consumers’ needs. Strong competition in the area has placed considerable pressure on pricing. The business’s target market, 50-65 year old females, no longer dominated the now younger demographic character of the area.

In this case study, we will be analyzing the current position of how well Kingsford is within the marketplace and determine which of the issues are plausible causes in its drop in revenue. We will be creating a comprehensive strategy as well as a marketing plan to evaluate and adjust the matter at hand. First we will begin with identifying the issues and implementing a method to reemphasize the importance of marketing in the business. The goal is to create a marketing plan that will add value to Kingsford’s market share, sales, and profitability.

Comparative shopping is done in the industry constantly. But the point of the task is to identify strengths and weaknesses of your store’s merchandise mix in comparison to the competitors’. Are you offering the customer something unique in one segment of your business, but not in others? Are you just a poor second in comparison to a strong competitor? Are you under- or over-developed in certain classifications? Are your prices in line with the rest of your store? In relation to your

The intensity of rivalry and the threat of substitutes are strong components for J.C. Penney to consider as they continue to strive for increased revenue and market share. Their two primary competitors are Macy’s and Kohl’s, both of whom have fiercely competitive strategies to be strong retail operations. For instance, while Macy’s offers a multitude of promotional deals and is working hard to choose products based upon demographics and geographic segmentation, Kohl’s is attempting to reduce their inventory levels and improve their marketing strategies in order to become a stronger competitor in the department store segment of the retail industry. In order to compete with their competitors, J.C. Penney aims to focus on their previously successful promotions and home department segmentations by bringing in new reputable designers in order to attract a larger customer base. Due to the fact that the intensity of rivalry and threat of substitutes are both moderately strong in the retail department store industry, J.C. Penney ought to be diligent in their implementation of strategies in order to achieve success in the retail business.

With giants such as Walmart, and Kroger running the grocery store industry it’s difficult for companies such as Smuckers to bargain for shelf-space and prices. Brand name items drawn to the center of the store are what leverages these companies to succeed in the industry. After numerous acquisitions and strategic alliances, Smuckers developed a solid core of product lines which experienced success rapidly. Product lines that experienced the most success as a result of strong positioning in the industry included their Coffee labels, flour and baking products, Oils and food spreads. A 9-Cell Industry Attractiveness/Business Strength Matrix shows that the Industry attractiveness is relatively moderate. With many competitors and strong buyer power from large grocery chains such as Kroger, companies such as Smuckers have explored different strategies that have proved successful in what can be described as a saturated industry. The case insinuates that there may be opportunities in the industry in regards to special markets and perhaps Oils and Baking with sugar free products, but otherwise the recession, although it drove families to buy store bought as opposed to eating out, has had its effects on the food service industry as well.

Jones Blair Company, JBC, currently faces a unique challenge in which the upper level management must act in order to maintain its profitability. Jones Blair current market position is in the process of being eroded due to the mass merchandising efforts of companies like Kmart and Sears. In developing their strategy forward, Jones must address two key issues to address the problem statement. First, Jones Blair must determine which marketing medium they will use to access their potential customers. Secondly, they must determine the geographic locations in which

The Pillsbury Cookie Challenge is a case study written by Natalie Mauro under the supervision of Professor Allison Johnson. The case study creates an open discussion about what the marketing manager of the refrigerated baked goods category for Canada General Mills should do to revive his products. Ivan Guillen, the marketing manager, was faced with tough challenges. He was initially “…faced with the challenge of developing a strategy that would lead to improved business performance on his category” (Johnson and Mauro, p.1, 2011). To clarify, Guillen’s category is refrigerated baked goods (RBG), which means, this category is his marketing responsibility. The issue here is that “RBG was GMCC’s fourth largest category, and its performance over the past two years had been less than stellar” (Johnson and Mauro, p.1, 2011). It is important to note that GMCC stands for General Mills Canada Corporation. Pillsbury has enjoyed majority market share in the RBG category in Canada, however, recently, the market was experiencing only moderate growth. Guillen was disappointed that their goal of 5%-7% market growth was not being achieved mainly in the refrigerated cookie dough segment. To be exact, their volume growth for two years was flat and they were having difficulty reaching new households. There was a shift among consumer’s purchases, which Guillen was challenged to figure out why.

In 1996 sales to this class of customer at a 30% markup represents $11,975,040 margin for Tweeter, $16,917,120 margin for Lechmere and $13,258,080 margin for Circuit City. This is an important source of margin for the Superstores, however represents only 10% and 15% of their overall sales respectively. So I believe that they will fight to keep their customers rather than fight to gain

Another issue facing this corporation is the question, what should we do next? Harry Rosen Inc. is not in a stagnant position where they are facing a road block and are unable to grow, but rather how should they grow successfully? The obvious strategic move is to expand their locations and try to have a larger customer base. Over the years, they have followed this strategy but focused on investing capital into renovating store locations to enhance each customer’s shopping experience. By renovating each store and acquiring more retail space, it allows them to cater to their different customer’s taste as oppose to being limited to only selling suits and formal wear.

I would consider lowering price points so I could tap into the more than 10% of consumers without becoming “Wal-Mart”. Now the company did do something to increase its’ position that I found useful. That was to decrease its’ overall lease space by 2%. (2010 shareholders meeting). This reduction in retail occupancy costs attributed to the 1 billion dollars the company enjoyed last year. I would also consider expanding the company’s customer base by broadening the product line to similar to Home Goods or Bed Bath and beyond who currently double the revenue of Williams-Sonoma. (Redistribute assets earmarked for traditional cataloging to online accesses. Not only will this save money, but will also impact paper usage. I believe advertising in this was has all but outlived its’ usefulness.